Castle Pines cuts map costs

Castle Pines until recently paid $100 an hour for mapping and related services — services which the city needs, as some of its maps online still don't include correct boundaries from past annexations. But now that cost has dropped to $45 an hour.

That's because something occurred to Sam Bishop, Castle Pines community development director, about Douglas County's department of technology.

“I'm familiar with their staff and the work products they do,” he said. “It crossed my mind to engage with them for services,” Bishop said in a recent interview. The county was interested.

And so were his bosses. Castle Pines City Council unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement with Douglas County at its June 11 meeting. Bishop said the city's current local vendor conceivably could be used again. But at the county's price — $45 for mapping services and $67 for special projects — the city, which allocated up to $10,000 this year for mapping and geographic information projects, will now be able to get “double” the work product, Bishop said.

A major city priority now is to correct maps. Currently on the city's website there are various maps with various municipal boundaries. “We need to standardize, make it more user-friendly,” Bishop said in a recent interview.

Bishop said the agreement approved by the council now goes to the Douglas County Commissioners July 9 for approval. “Should they have any amendments, I'll take it back to my council,” Bishop said.